Copyright Treasure Trove: Fans Of 60s Music – A Goldmine Awaits You

THE news that rare Beatles recordings are being released on iTunes next week, all 59 tracks of it! Recordings from ’63 will be unleashed on the world, but weirdly, without the usual fanfare of usual Beatle releases.

The thing is, this is a release of necessity after changes to copyright laws are forcing them to put music out so they can retain control over it.

Apple are unhappy about the release, forced upon them by changes to European Union copyright laws. Copyright on released material was extended to 70 years last month, but unreleased material was made free from copyright 50 years after it was recorded.

In case of The Beatles, we might get to hear the swear-filled Sexy Sadie, the 27 minute Helter Skelter, the experimental Carnival of Light recorded for an art festival and other neglected gems. Tremendous news for music nerds.

Just last year, Bob Dylan released a limited run on an 86-song called The Copyright Extension Collection Vol 1.

For us fans, that means there’s a veritable treasure trove of music we can all get stuck into. It means we’ll be getting annual batches of previously unissued material from everyone back then and they’ll need to be quick, or lose control!

And instead of neat packages of material, we’ll be afforded the chance of diving into a digital jumble sale of bootleg-type releases, which is much more fun. You’ll have to dig deep for the gems. It’ll be like getting the keys to the best charity shop backroom record pile EVER!

We’ll be able to pore over the music and try and work out how our favourite bands work. It is futile of course, but this kind of nerdgasm is what makes music dweebs get drunk with excitement.

So, how exciting could this get? Well, for a kick off, just imagine the gems that are tucked away in the vaults of Motown and Chess alone!

While releases will invariably be buried by labels and bands, regrettably for them, it only takes one person to put them on a torrent and we can all have access to a previously unheard story from the 60s.